Matthew 25:1-13

The last time I preached on this passage, two of my grownup kids asked me the same question. “Why did the bridesmaids have to have their own lamps? If I had a flashlight and you didn’t, we’d just walk together, right?” “Good question,” was the best I could come up with. This parable raises many questions like this. If for some reason they couldn’t share the lamps, then why not share the oil? Why were the young women sent off to buy oil at midnight when the store was probably closed? Can you ever really be too late for the Kingdom of God? Why the closed door? Where’s the hospitality and grace in that? Why is it the bridesmaids who suffer, just because this bridegroom is late? You’d think that having to buy a dress you’re never going to wear again is punishment enough.

We aren’t told why this bridegroom is late, but we know the parable was put in written form fifty or so years after the Resurrection, when the early church was expecting Christ to return at any moment. It was taking much longer than they’d hoped. The early church used this parable to say just that: There’s been a delay. Don’t be surprised, don’t panic, and don’t give up. It doesn’t mean our faith is pointless.

We’re still waiting. The Church still affirms that there will come a time when God’s plans for the world are fulfilled, when all the biblical promises that they shall beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks will come to fruition. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer every week, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth…” We are not there yet. In the meantime, we respond to God’s invitation to be a part of God’s coming kingdom, but it is a slow kingdom coming.

What do these bridesmaids have to say to those who wait? The bridesmaids who were equipped to deal with the long haul were deemed wise. And somehow, even though it’s not a perfect analogy, that oil is supposed to represent something we can’t share. Something we have to do for ourselves.

Some have said that a weakness of the Reformed tradition is that we don’t focus on practices, even though we know that anything we want to do well takes practice. In his book, Slow Kingdom Coming, author Kent Annan sets out five faithful practices that can help sustain us for the marathon of waiting and participating in the coming kingdom. These practices help us to be committed to deep instead of shallow change, and to making a long-term difference instead of settling for quick fixes. Together the five practices add up to “Keep awake!”

The first practice is “attention,” which means awakening to the situations in the world that cry out for justice. People awaken to injustice in all sorts of ways: friends, mission trips, travel to other countries, work with marginalized groups, reading, paying attention to the news, seeing films, maybe even sermons! This kind of waking isn’t easy. One year, the town where a church I served is located put scarecrows on lamp posts as decorations during October and November. These scarecrows became the subject of controversy. Some people thought they were creepy, as in haunted house creepy, and they might scare children. Others thought they were creepy, as in reminiscent of a lynching creepy, and hugely insensitive to people of color. People on the neighborhood social media website, Nextdoor, said, “Look, even if they don’t bother you personally, if any person of color feels less welcome on our streets, we need to rethink our Halloween decorations,” and there were statements from people of color that these scarecrows were, indeed, a problem. Others said, “If it doesn’t bother me, it shouldn’t bother anybody, and you’re too sensitive. Get over it.” Some people even got ugly about it.

If we pay attention, we might hear the voices of people we’ve never heard before; we might begin to realize how deep and wide the problems are. When we pay attention, we might recognize our own complicity with the way things are. That’s why Annan’s second practice is confession. The third practice is respect. Respect means the ability to see one another across our inevitable differences. The fourth practice, partnering, helps prevent misguided generosity because it keeps us from swooping in to rescue or save. Instead, when we partner with people we assume we all need to learn and receive, and we all have something to give. It also means going upstream, not just applying Band-Aids to problems but addressing the sources and causes of poverty and injustice. That, of course, takes more time, and requires more thought, effort, and patience.

Annan’s fifth practice is what he calls “truthing” – seeing the truth of what’s right in front of our noses. What are the real impacts of our ministry? “Truthing” means asking the question, “What ministries, what actions, actually bear fruit?”

Five practices, all designed to help us to “keep awake” while we wait. The opportunities for waiting on Jesus’ presence are all around us. Each time we work for justice, we testify to Jesus’ presence. Each time we bear each other’s burdens, we testify to Jesus’ presence. Each time we advocate for the poor, or reach out to the friendless, or work to make the world God loves a better place, we testify to the presence of the Risen Christ.

© Joanne Whitt 2023

Resources:

Kent Annan, Slow Kingdom Coming: Practices for Doing Justice, Loving Mercy and Walking Humbly in the World (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016).